BART considers charging peak-hour premiums

[KamaAina]

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-considers-charging-peak-hour-premiums-5039521.php

BART directors Thursday discarded the idea of raising the base fare, acknowledging that strikes and breakdowns have tortured riders. But the transit agency is still studying the possibility of peak-hour premiums....

Last spring, well before BART's current labor strife had begun, Director Joel Keller suggested raising the $1.75 base fare, which covers rides of up to 6 miles. That fare is the least-expensive among Bay Area transit agencies and is tied with the WestCAT bus system in west Contra Costa County.

But on Thursday, BART directors discussed potential fare changes, and agreed it was the wrong time to boost the base fare, which applies to about 70,000 of the transit agency's 400,000 weekday trips....

BART officials are preparing to look into peak-period fares - charging higher prices during the busiest hours or at congested stations - a system that is used by other agencies, including the Metro system in Washington, D.C., which also operates in the city and suburbs. Carter Mau, BART's budget and planning manager, said much more analysis is needed on how a peak-period premium fare might work.

[arcane1]

1. Raising the peak rate, and rasing the age for youth discounts at the same time?

[Agschmid]

2. They should just raise the base fare.

In Boston any subway ride cost about $2.50 for an average rider. There are some discounts available but the base local far could increase and it would still be affordable.

[KamaAina]

3. The problem is that people who ride the bus to BART pay an additional fare

unlike, say, DC Metro, BART does not run city or suburban buses. So for a trip within Oakland, the BART fare may be $1.75, but you have to tack on a $1.85 bus fare ($2.10 minus .25 cents transfer discount), for a whopping total of $3.60.

[Agschmid]

4. Valid.

I think the MBTA system does allow transfer. Either way the increase might be coming.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. The MBTA commuter rail is the closest equivalent to BART.

IOW, it's not a subway system with a relatively flat fee regardless of the number of stops. It cost $1.75 to walk through the turnstile but most users pay considerable more than that because they travel beyond the minimum mile zones.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. And $1.75 is just the base fare.

Going from downtown Oakland to downtown SF (a relatively short route for most East Bay to SF commuters) costs $3.15 just on BART.

BART also has the crappy discounts for daily users. Most bus & subway systems have heavily discounted monthly passes.